Slow Steps
by dark insanity 13
Summary: In which she finally gets an answer, and he realizes that his life just got a lot more stressful. Sequel/Companion to "Take a Chance".


Ichigo and Orihime went out many times after Orihime's confession. They weren't terribly fancy outings, mostly going out for tea or coffee, watching a movie together or just browsing through shops if Orihime wanted. They talked about anything and everything, but they typically avoided the topic of the status of their relationship, as Ichigo still wasn't sure and Orihime didn't want to rush him. Orihime didn't mind; just being in Ichigo's company was enough for her.

Several months passed, their friends still mostly unaware of their interactions. As most of them talked to either one or the other, the convenience of their simultaneous disappearances and lack of free time were unnoticed. However, suspicions were starting to arise via Tatsuki, who had noticed Orihime always had something to do when she had karate practise, but never heard from any of their other friends about any get-togethers. She also noticed that Orihime and Ichigo seemed to talk and look at one another differently, but she couldn't place a specific finger on what may have brought about such things.

It was when they were on an ordinary day of window-shopping when Orihime finally got her answer. Things had been going as normal, with Orihime rambling on about a particular daydream she had while Ichigo listened with amusement. She had spotted something interesting in the window of one store, and she turned to admire it. While she was blabbering to her companion on how cute the display of stuffed animals and dolls was, she didn't notice him go quiet or watch her with a mix of apprehension and shyness.

Suddenly, someone was slipping their fingers between hers, causing her to abruptly stop and turn to the offender. Orihime looked at the hand, and then followed the arm to see Ichigo's gaze turned elsewhere. His cheeks were bright red and his frown was deeper than usual, but she recognized it as an embarrassed one. He said nothing, as if he couldn't trust his mouth and anxiously waited for her reaction.

Still surprised, Orihime blinked before blushing a bit herself, returning with a small squeeze as she smiled shyly. They started to walk off, the window display forgotten, hands still linked.

"...Thank you, Kurosaki-kun..." Orihime eventually murmured, not expecting an answer.

They continued to walk in silence, enjoying the newfound intimacy.

"...I'm still not too sure on love, or anything, but...I think I like you..." Ichigo finally stated, flushing. "More than a friend, nakama, that is..."

"That's fine. It's somewhere," Orihime replied, swinging their still intertwined hands a bit. "So...does this mean we tell everyone, then?"

Ichigo was quiet, deliberating over his words.

"...Can it wait a few days...? I think I need a few more dates to get used to this a bit more before mentioning it. It's hard enough to admit it to myself and you; it's something on a whole different level to admit it to others. Especially people like our friends," he lamented, grimacing.

"Yeah, I can wait. I've waited this long for this, I think telling Tatsuki-chan and them isn't as important."

The brunette noticed Ichigo's face go slightly pale.

"Kurosaki-kun?"

"Tatsuki's reaction is the one I'm most afraid of. I can take Keigo's whining, Rukia's teasing, Ishida's snarky remarks and Honshou's weak attempts to kill me, but Tatsuki will probably beat me to a pulp...she put my head through a window when I didn't tell her about why you disappeared when you did."

He didn't miss the flash of anguish across her face at the mention of her betrayal. Unconsciously he tightened his grip on her hand, both to remind her that he forgave her and everything was alright, and in anger that she still hadn't completely recovered from her time in Hueco Mundo. In return, Orihime flashed him a grateful smile.

"Ah...Tatsuki-chan's like that...but, she's a good friend because of it."

"Yeah..." he agreed, knowing no further words needed to be said.

They chatted and strolled around hand-in-hand a bit longer before Ichigo dropped Orihime off at her apartment and headed back home.

A couple weeks and three dates later, Ichigo met Orihime halfway to school to walk with her and talk about things.

"You know...if you want, you can tell Tatsuki about us. Everyone else will probably hear anyway," he murmured, scratching his nose bashfully. He absently ran his thumb over the tops of her knuckles as she swung their hands slightly.

Orihime smiled shyly, knowing this was going to be embarrassing for the both of them, but mostly for Ichigo.

"All right Kurosaki-kun."

"A-Actually, I-I would be fine if you called me Ichigo..."

Both their faces went red, the situation awkward.

"Ah, if you don't want to..."

"N-No, it's okay...if you could call me Orihime, that would be nice...Ichigo-kun."

Ichigo absentmindedly ran his thumb over Orihime's fingers, unsure of how to proceed.

"O-okay...Orihime..."

They continued to blush, and since neither of them could quite get using each other's first names, they decided it would remain something for later in their relationship. The two reached the school gates, but Orihime asked to hold Ichigo's hand until they reached the classroom, as everyone was going to know they were dating anyway. Ichigo complied with the request, however he felt a little odd walking through the school holding hands with Orihime.

Soon enough, they arrived at the classroom, and both the young teens felt disappointed they had to untangle their hands. Orihime slid the door open, walking in with Ichigo following soon after.

"Good morning, everyone!" Orihime greeted, cheerfully, bounding over to where the group of girls were gathered.

Ichigo gave a mumbled greeting, not missing the stares from both his friends and Orihime's. He plopped down at his desk and turned to talk with his friends who had gathered around.

"Oi, Ichigo, what was up with you walking in with Orihime-chan," Keigo prodded.

Ichigo simply snorted, knowing ignoring Keigo was the best course of action until Orihime dropped the bomb. Tatsuki had just asked Orihime the same question, which left the two groups listening for the reply, as Ichigo wasn't going to answer anytime soon.

"A-Actually, Tatsuki-chan, I wanted to talk to you about that..."

The substitute Shinigami noticed Keigo, Mizuiro, Ishida, Chad and the male Shinigami lean in closer to hear the explanation.

"Nosy morons," he thought to himself, preparing for the oncoming onslaught.

"What? Did you finally jump Ichigo or something?"

Orihime and Ichigo simultaneously went red.

"N-No! It's not like that! But...um...actually, Kurosaki-kun and I...um...are...err...dating..." the brunette sputtered out, get quieter with each stutter.

There was a mutual silence throughout the classroom, the group wondering if they heard right.

"**_WHAT?!_**" several occupants finally burst out, making Orihime shrink in her chair in fear of having her head blown off.

Ichigo suddenly dreaded letting Orihime tell them so early when all heads whipped around to look at him, to which he quickly looked away. Eye contact would surely murder him.

"Ichigo!"

The substitute reaper flinched at hearing Tatsuki, but refused to move his gaze from the window.

"Oi, we're talking to you!"

He didn't flinch so much at Rukia's voice, but he still didn't turn around.

"Tatsuki-chan, Kuchiki-san, please…"

"Shush Orihime, we want answers, and we won't get the proper ones from you," Tatsuki said with a bit more bite than intended, but Orihime knew she didn't mean it.

"Indeed, everyone wants answers Ichigo!" Rukia snapped.

"Ichigo!" Keigo wailed. "Why didn't you tell me you had landed a bombshell like Inoue-san for a girlfriend!"

"I'm gonna kill you for stealing my precious Hime, you son-of-a-bitch!" Chizuru growled, and made a move to pounce on Ichigo before being punched out by Tatsuki.

"Ah, Kurosaki, didn't know you had it in you," Ishida muttered, pushing up his glasses pompously.

Tatsuki and Rukia exchanged conspiratorial glances and grinned evilly.

"Yeah, you're right Ishida; I can't believe Ichigo had the guts to take Orihime out on at least one date, let alone several! Right, Rukia?" Tatsuki chuckled, hamming up her disbelief.

Ichigo visibly twitched at the insults being thrown at him.

"No kidding! I was almost beginning to think he was…you know, _gay_," Rukia stage-whispered, loud enough for pretty much the whole classroom to hear.

"I AM NOT GAY!!!" Ichigo bellowed, whirling around and slamming a fist on his desk to emphasize his point. His face was beet red with embarrassment and rage, and his scowl was deeper than ever.

The two girls gave cat-like grins at their victory, and Ichigo suddenly realized his folly. He paled and moved to turn back around. Unfortunately, a strong hand gripped his shoulder and stopped him from turning around. He was forcefully spun around in his seat to meet the scrutinizing glare of his childhood friend. Under her clearly irate gaze he gulped; as close friends as they were, Orihime always came first in Tatsuki's eyes and she was willing to hurt anyone (though she didn't like to have to) if any harm came upon her friend. Ichigo was also unwilling to fight back against her because as tough as Tatsuki was, he didn't like having to hurt girls.

They stared down for several minutes, with Ichigo looking considerably more nervous as time wore on and Tatsuki's hard stare never moving. The whole class was silent, their breath bated in anticipation for the tomboy's reaction.

"Have you hurt her?" Tatsuki suddenly asked.

Everyone had been expecting her to speak or do something, but they still jumped in surprise as her words seemed so loud in the quietness of the classroom, Ichigo included. He blinked a little.

"What?"

"I said," the karate champion repeated, raising her voice a little more. "'Have you hurt her?'"

"Wh–of course not!"

Tatsuki grabbed his collar in one hand and gripped it tightly.

"Have you allowed her to get hurt?"

"No! Not on my watch!" Ichigo protested. Yes, Orihime had some of her usual clumsy accidents, but he always made sure she was okay when he couldn't stop her from getting hurt.

With strength befitting her, she lifted him out of his seat so they saw eye-to-eye and got up in his face.

"Have you done anything beyond first base?" she inquired in a lower timbre.

Ichigo, as well as Orihime in her seat behind Tatsuki, flushed like a tomato.

"NO! We haven't even kissed yet!"

Keigo looked about to make a comment along the lines of "how could you not have with a beauty like Inoue-san", but was stopped by Chad planting one of his big hands firmly on his mouth. The brunette started to protest until the giant gave him a pointed and stern look through his hair, his body language saying that his smaller friend was not to interrupt. Tatsuki, meanwhile, narrowed her eyes in accusation.

"And why not?" she questioned, her voice taking on a dangerous tone.

Ichigo sputtered incoherently; he was never good at dealing with talk about such intimate things. Orihime appeared desperate to pull her best friend off of her long-time crush and explain the entire story behind them dating, but she was held back by an on-looking Rukia, who like Chad, put her hand over Orihime's mouth to avoid interruption.

"I-I-It's too early! Why is kissing so important anyway?!"

At this point, Ochi-sensei had entered the room, as the bell had rung less than a minute before. She looked from the anxious audience to the confrontation, attempting to discern the situation just by observing. Shrugging, she put her lesson plan down and leaned against the teacher's podium to see the end result. There was probably a reasonable explanation as to whatever was going on anyway.

"It's not," Tatsuki reasoned, loosening her grip a little. "But I'm just checking. Two more questions!"

The majority of the class tensed, knowing that these would be the most important questions to determine whether or not Tatsuki would pummel Ichigo.

"First!" she snapped, tightening her hold on his shirt again. "Are you using her, for whatever reason that may be beyond me?"

Ichigo became stunned at the accusation.

"No! I would never do that! What kind of asshole do you think I am?!"

"Last question!"

Students leaned forward as Ichigo flinched at the shout. His forehead suddenly got rammed by something else, and when he opened his eyes, Tatsuki's dark irises were staring into his _hard_. Her forehead grinded into his, promising some major hurting if she was displeased with his answer.

"Do you like her?" she hissed, but the whole classroom heard it.

All the onlookers knew that if he answered wrong, he would be in deep trouble not only from Tatsuki, but also a vengeful Rukia (who currently had a very dark look in her eye), a murderous Chizuru (who looked ready to pounce first chance she got), and several of his loyal friends. If his answer wasn't good enough, he would also have to deal with an upset Orihime. The sweet-hearted girl didn't deserve such heartbreak.

The early-morning gym class could be heard outside though the pin-drop silence, blissfully unaware of the tension in 1-3's classroom. It was hard to keep quiet, but the fear of breaking it too early and ruining everything, as well as turning everyone in the class against them. Even the tiniest of sounds, like the rustle of clothes from a minor position adjustment, could be heard all across the room, but no one paid them any mind. Eagerness continued to build up as the stare-down went on.

Ochi-sensei was about ready to shout "get on with it!" in exasperation.

"Wh–" Ichigo finally started. Pink dusted his cheeks and he glanced away a bit. "Y-Yeah, I g–"

"I mean more than a friend or nakama!"

Her point was punctuated by her shaking him roughly.

"I know! Yeesh..." he muttered. He really hated being on his childhood friend's bad side.

"And no 'I guess' or 'I think' crap! Orihime may be fine with that, but I'm sure as hell not! It's either you do or you don't in my books!"

Ichigo's eyes widened a little at her words. He realized that he hadn't been very straightforward with Orihime, and in his thinking about what he really thought about the healer, he realized he had already been making her wait a long time. Afraid of hurting her feelings or having her wait too long, he took a flying leap with the hope that he would figure things out soon after. Thinking back, he hadn't considered it at all after that day when he first held her hand, and that was unfair to Orihime. He needed to sort things out, and sort them out _now_.

His eyes drifted off to behind Tatsuki (best he could see around her anyway, considering her face was so close he noticed tiny scabs from a scrape she had a week ago). The girl he was being grilled over watched on, worry and anxiety written all over her pretty face. Offhandedly he wondered if she was worried about what he would say, and he hoped that she had enough faith in him to not get too downhearted. He hated thinking about, let alone seeing, her brown eyes shine with sadness and hurt, or her thin eyebrows furrowed in a frown. Her head was meant to be held high, not cast down in melancholy contemplation. He'd be damned if he ever let himself put such expressions on her face ever again.

Ichigo closed his eyes and thought back to their various dates. Every single one he enjoyed, even the ones where Orihime started randomly laughing in the middle of a horror movie, or when she had one of her weird concoctions placed in front of her. He often wondered how such an innocent soul could have ever fallen for a broken one like his as she rambled about her latest daydream. But he didn't need to think about it; in her own way, she was just as broken as he was, and yet she was still so willing to help him put himself back together and accept his flaws. He knew his answer.

Resolutely, he met Tatsuki's eye with one of his determined stares. She flinched the slightest (Ichigo didn't notice) at the passion and fire the brown orbs held. From her vantage point, Orihime recognized the look in his eye and the air around him from when he promised to protect her. Her heart skipped a beat.

"Tatsuki," Ichigo murmured. "You of all people know how much I suck at saying what I'm thinking, and I've never had any experience with romance or any of that stuff."

The substitute shinigami started to stand straight, and Tatsuki loosened her grip a little to allow him to do so. They continued to stare each other down, but Ichigo's glare softened with a small smirk.

"But thinking about how Inoue took a chance by telling me how much she cares for me, and all the times we've gone on dates, I know I can't be an idiot anymore. I can't keep trying to think about the complicated stuff because I'm not going to get anywhere otherwise. So I'm telling you right now..."

Even Ochi-sensei was leaning forward as Ichigo took a deep breath.

"I like Inoue. More than a friend and more than a nakama. Sure, I can't really say I love her yet, but I hope that she's patient enough with me and my stupidity to help me get to that point."

Orihime felt her heart in her throat as Ichigo said those words, and she placed her hands above where it was supposed to be in an attempt to calm it. She gave a shy smile as his gaze flickered over to her briefly, and blushed profusely. Her best friend kept eyeballing him carefully, reading his face and body language for any sign of weakness. Eventually, she sighed, closed her eyes and let go.

"Well, if you have the balls to say something like that in front of the whole class, it must be safe to assume you're not lying," she said, placing her hands on her hips and giving Ichigo a smirk. "Orihime's in safe hands."

And then before Ichigo could even make a comment, she punched him in the gut. He fell back in his seat and doubled over as an odd strangled sound came out. Quivering, he looked up to give her a questioning glare that reflected his disbelief.

"That's for not telling me," Tatsuki stated simply. "Don't be a baby; I didn't punch you that hard."

It was true, he mused, the punch had been more playful and good-natured than angry, but he still had the wind knocked out of him. He coughed and sat up properly, but the effects of the punch continued to haunt him.

"We'll continue this at lunch!" Tatsuki announced, turning around to go to her seat. "And you better damn well explain everything!"

There were a couple seconds of silence before everyone broke out into chatter. Orihime looked over to Ichigo, concern on her face as she mentally asked if he was all right. Her reply was a small smile in gratitude and reassurance that he was fine. The babble from the class continued on, girls whispering to one another while guys exchanged jealous glares.

"All right, all right, enough yammering, it's time for class," Ochi-sensei finally spoke up, tapping her lesson books on the podium. Inoue, Kurosaki, good to hear you're finally dating. The teachers were just about ready to start a betting pool about how long it would take for you to clue in, and I was prepared to bet on after college."

Several snickers were heard throughout the class as the couple blushed, Ichigo scowling. Ochi-sensei was a cool teacher for being lax and on the same level as her students, but there was a point he had to draw the line. Though he didn't think him and Inoue were _that_ infamous.

"I'll want to talk to you two after school. Oh, but before I forget, don't forget to practice safe sex," Ochi-sensei continued offhandedly, turning to the chalkboard with her lesson plan.

The class burst into full-out laughter, causing Ichigo to hide his face on his desk's surface and Orihime to hide hers in her hands. It definitely didn't seem worth the trouble of informing their friends.

"Why me…?" he thought.

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Dark: Ah Ichigo, your pain and embarrassment amuses me so. It's unfortunate that Hime's included in that though. Oh well, Hime's adorable when she's embarrassed XD.

Originally inspired by an attempt at those "10 random songs" memes that were floating around, but I never finished the meme (or any of the other ones I started) and I liked where I was going with this one. I can't remember if it was written with my fic "Take a Chance" in mind, but it works well with it so I decided to make it the sequel/companion. It turned out a lot longer than I originally planned though, and like "Take a Chance" it's been sitting on my computer, but it hadn't been finished. In fact, for the longest time it was frozen at the part Ichigo's indignant yell about not being gay (or a couple lines after that). I'm somewhat satisfied with the end result, though I realize there's potential to be more. I have very vague ideas about what I want to do next, but I'm not confident or sure of what I want to write. Besides, I have other things I should be working on *sweatdrop*. Don't keep your hopes up for anymore.

So, to comment on the actual content. As I addressed in "Take a Chance", Ichigo's not particularly good with words or feelings, so if he ever did fall in love Hime, he probably wouldn't outright tell her until much later (and even then I'm sure it'd take him a lot of work and courage (or lack of complete awareness of a situation) to actually say it). And he's such an innocent when it comes to romance that he wouldn't do something like randomly kiss her in an effort to show her. So what's something considered intimate, but not quite so intimate as a hug or a kiss? Why, holding hands! If my information is correct, holding hands in public is frowned upon in Japan, so very few couples do it (and the ones that do usually do it with few people around), but it's less frowned upon than kissing or hugging in public. By going with that standard, I figured it would be a big step for Ichigo to take Orihime's hand, both for him personally and considering the culture.

I love Ochi-sensei, and I wish that Bleach would go back to the gang just going about their day-to-day lives at school, because Ochi-sensei is an awesome teacher. But I know it's not going to happen because their lives are irreparably changed. They may be able to go back into a daily routine, but the fun and camaraderie that was around at the beginning of the series will take a while to get back in full swing, if it ever does. But that doesn't mean I can't wish for it to happen in my fics *grins*.

I kinda wish Tatsuki and Ichigo were allowed to communicate more. I've always been a fan of the "childhood friends" relationship, whether romantic or not.

Much thanks to copperheadfightingninja and Star-In-The-Sky-25 for revising this and giving opinions before I posted this.

Anyway, before I keep rambling, I hope you enjoyed this fic, and I always appreciate reviews and constructive criticism.


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